Pensioner lost in fog found 50 MILES from home

AN elderly woman who got lost for six hours whilst stuck in heavy fog was found by police more than 50 miles away.

Sheila Fitzgerald, was heading to her house in Rainford, from Ormskirk when she took a wrong turning in the fog and became confused.

As she struggled to navigate her way home, her daughter, Clare Fitzgerald, grew concerned for the 82-year-old and called Merseyside Police, who launched a search for the pensioner.

However, it was only hours later, at around 2am, that Ms Fitzgerald was found by officers in Gisburn, Lancashire, more than 50 miles away from her home.

Clare told The Liverpool Echo: “I rang her neighbour, who has a key, and they went round to check but she wasn’t there. I got there at about 8.40pm and realised she was out in her car and there was thick fog so I rang the police.

“At about 10.30pm, they saw her number plate come on a camera on the M65, near Blackburn. They tracked it back and saw she had driven through Tarleton, so I think she’d been to Southport.

“Two Merseyside police officers came round and took some details for a missing person’s report and by 12.30am she was still missing. Lancashire police located her at 2am, safe and well, in Gisburn, so she had been on a bit of a trek.

“She only thought she had been driving about 20 minutes. She was just finding her way home.”

Despite her ordeal, Clare said her mother didn’t know what all the fuss was about.

She said: “The police put on their blue lights to pull her over and check she was safe and well.

“Apparently she joked with them and asked ‘am I a missing person?’ and they had to tell her she actually was. She only thought she had been driving about 20 minutes.

“She was just finding her way home.’

Clare, who thinks her mum had taken the wrong road on her way back from Ormskirk, added: ‘Both police forces were just outstanding. I was so worried, especially because the fog was terrible.

“The officers were really patient, really kind and were absolutely amazing all the way through.